The Pocahontas Times features an article on a Green Bank school project this week. It includes some interesting references to Pocahontas County history, which I've excerpted here. The Times will only show the article and photos on its web site until next Thursday, after which they go into the for-pay archive.
Students unearth Colonial history in Green Bank by Drew Tanner
Pocahontas County high school and middle school students got a rare opportunity last week to search for artifacts from centuries past.....
Situated on a bluff between the forks of Deer Creek, Warwick's Fort was named for John Warwick, the Colonial pioneer whose log cabin once stood just a stone's throw to the north. The fort was one of a series built in the Greenbrier Valley between 1774 and 1776....
Records show the fort was constructed by 16 of Captain George Moffet's company from Augusta County, Virginia.
Each man was paid 15 pounds for six days of work on the fort....
The McBrides estimate the fort was constructed around June, 1774, just as white settlements in the Deer Creek Valley were beginning to take hold. "The main force on the frontier were the militia," Stephen McBride noted. "When Moffet's company came and built this, there were probably around 50 or so men," he explained, "and then George Matthews' company came. He had a smaller company, maybe about 30 or so."
When Matthews' company left for the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774, 16 men were left to guard the fort under William Kennerly. At any given time, about 25 men, or a sergeant's command, might be stationed at the fort, Stephen McBride continued.Settlements might extend in 10 mile radius from such forts, he said. In many cases, the forts provided functions other than protection. They might have hosted church services or a school. Other forts had blacksmiths or stores with basic provisions. In the case of Fort Warwick, the closest store was likely in Warm Springs....
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